The Archies book launch!

21st September 2017

7:00PM - 8.30PM

University of Dundee, Dalhousie Building

The book launch will involve a talk, some short video clips from the Adventure Show, and Mark Beaumont (who has written the foreword of the book). There will be a short Q&A section, followed by free wine : ) Read more...

Archie Mountain Challenge Reflections:

The challenge is now complete, huge congratulations to everyone involved!

We are hugely grateful to have the support of our team sponsor:

Sponsors:

We are hugely grateful to have the support of our media partners - The Courier and the Adventure Show:

Media partners:

Fun Facts

The cumulative ascent for the Challenge was 85529m. This is roughly 10 times the height of Everest and would take us into the Stratosphere!

The cumulative distance of the Challenge was 1,763km (1095 miles) . This equates to the distance from Edinburgh to Madrid. The majority of this was on foot, and most of it over rough terrain.

57 people were directly involved in the Challenge which took 15 days, 9 hours and 6 minutes to complete. Many more were involved in the 3 community walks, up Ben Wyvis, Lochnagar, and Schiehallion on the 3 weekends of the Challenge.

The Challenge started and finished at sea level, which is unusual for a mountain challenge like this, but makes a huge amount of sense if you think about it. ​It crossed Scotland, starting at the north east end in the North Sea (Cromarty Firth) by Dingwall, and finished at the south west end in the Atlantic Ocean (Loch Long) by Arrochar.

The Challenge finished beside the Rest and Be Thankful, which must be the best place in the world to finish such a challenge.

An ARCHIE is a mountain in Scotland over 1000m with 100m drop on all sides. It is therefore a mountain that reaches over 1km into the sky! There are 130 such mountains in Scotland and only 4 in the rest of the UK (all in Wales)!

The maps of Scotland (and the rest of the UK) have been in metric and there have been no feet on the maps for decades. Almost everyone has heard of the Munros. These are the mountains in Scotland over 3000 feet. However imperial measurements are irrelevant to modern mapping, and 3000 feet (914.4m) is not even a contour line on the map! Sir Hugh Munro of Lindertis (near Kirriemuir) published his the list of Munros in 1891. It was a brilliant idea and has been adopted with relish by the outdoor fraternity. However apart from the lack of feet on modern maps there are other problems with what makes a Munro. There is no minimum height drop or distance between summits (which is understandable given the limitations of surveying at the time). What makes a Munro or just a subsidiary ‘top’ is essentially down to opinion! Also the list has been changed by committee over the years, arguably against the will of Sir Hugh - the best example being Beinn Eighe which he felt was such a magnificent mountain it should only be one Munro. In contrast to this, the list of ARCHIE mountains is very clearly defined as the mountains in Scotland over 1000m with at least 100m prominence (drop on all sides).

The challenge is a massive endurance adventure manpower relay over the 130 ARCHIE mountains starting at Dingwall and finishing at Arrochar and the Rest And Be Thankful (how cool is that!?) an estimated 2-3 weeks later. A team of athletes and outdoor enthusiasts will run and walk over the mountains, and run and cycle between them, carrying Archie’s rabbit as a baton.

There are 130 mountains in Scotland over 1000m with over 100m drop on all sides. They are all on mainland Scotland. Most are readily accessible and there are none in the far north.

This challenge isn't just about climbing lots of mountains. It's about making a big difference for local sick children too. You can find out more about all of The ARCHIE Foundation's work by clicking here:

We climbed every mountain in Scotland over 1000m in a “Bonkers and Wonderful” relay.

If Sir Hugh Munro were alive today we reckon he would create a list of Scottish mountains over 1000m. We have called these mountains the ARCHIES. In May and June of 2015 we ran over all 130 ARCHIES, travelling between them on foot, bike or kayak. This was an epic feat which was made even more so by the weather which was unseasonably harsh. Our team of 57 intrepid adventurers faced blizzards, gales and torrential rain, although things improved in the second week. We completed the route from the North Sea coast by Dingwall to the Atlantic coast by Arrochar in 15 days 9 hours and six minutes. Read about some of our experiences in the highly entertaining ‘Reports’ section, and there are some excellent news articles in the links below...